Gerard Ravenhall
"If you do not bend; you break." History "Pain is an excellent teacher." Gerard was born to poor parents within the city of Haven, the capital of Egron, on the first of Gozran in the year 996. Gerard's parents are strangers to the martial artist, he was raised by a convent of monks outside the city limits who sheltered the boy, as well as putting him on the path to martial mastery. These monks would become his family, his friends, his mentors, and he has them to thank for who he is today. As the youth grew, his teachings became stricter, the punishments harsher, but these would become building blocks as strong as adamantine; aiding him in some of the darkest parts of his life. Gerard, now a man, was forced out of his nest, out of the comfort of the convent's halls and out into the greater world with nothing but a purse of gold, a days worth of food, and the clothes on his back. "Adversity is an opportunity for change." The streets of Haven are not a friendly place for those alien to the regular functions of society, yet Gerard found his way in the wider world- away from Haven and the convent he called home for so long. A hard worker and excellent student, the monk found himself a member of a merchant marine's vessel. It was amidst the navy that Gerard's purist style of combat was intermixed with the harsh, gritty brawling of sailors and pirates. The Monk took great effort expanding his style from the Monk styles he was taught and adding onto it the lessons of these brawlers, and no longer would Gerard refer to himself as a monk, for now on he was a brawler. As the years would wind on, the brawler found himself once again the city of Haven, no longer interested in the convent, he was here to begin a new journey; one where he was his own master, and his will was his own. Appearance Gerard stands at 5'5 (165.10cm) and weighing in at 154 pounds (69.9 kg, 3.8 stone). While small he is well-built, years of training and demanding work have aided in turning his body into a weapon; his hands, feet, knees and elbows all tough as stone. The Brawler's body is covered in scars, origins ranging from the punishments suffered in the convent, to the injuries from errors on the high sea, to slip ups in fights. The Brawler's hair is a soft brown and he always keeps his hair short, as well as keeping himself clean-shaven, to rob as many boons to opposing grapplers as possible. Gerard's eyes are a soft gray color, like the color of cobblestone. Personality "A disciplined mind is your most dependable ally." The Brawler was raised to state his mind and while this honesty can lead to many a good thing, it has led Gerard to find himself with a lack of a filter. He does not lie, neither to aid nor to harm. Gerard is- putting it gently- blatant, not to the point of cruelty, but one would recognize whether they enjoy his company or not within moments of conversation. Gerard, like many of his order, did not take kindly to the suffering forced unto him when he was cast out of the convent. This has led to the young man being bitter, though he grapples with it daily to try and see the better in people. In his mind, he has no reason to trust people's aid if those who raised him so willingly cast him out for no reason beyond growing to a certain age. In the convent, the instructors would spend hours goading their pupils for the slightest reaction only to punish any who reacted first. This training has led to a more reactionary approach from the brawler, more than willing to test the patience of his opponents to see who strikes first- and punishing his opponent for doing so. The world Gerard was thrown into was alien and some parts still are. Yet the Brawler quickly learned to separate the lies from the truth and he, hardly a fool, takes everything he is told with a grain of salt. Like dealing with liars and scoundrels, he also learned quickly who to watch out for and how to watch them, those who could do him harm are watched in a gruff manner. Aspirations "Repetition is the path to mastery." Gerard's primary goal is to create his own martial arts style, mixing the lessons of the convent with the more brutal lessons of the streets and the high seas.